😃 Hello, Wednesday.
🗞️ PoliticsPA Guide is written by Steve Ulrich. To read in your browser, click here. Has this email been forwarded to you? Subscribe for free.
Weather in Pennsylvania
☁️ Connellsville | Rising Clouds, 39
☁️ Button | Cloudy, 29
🌤️ Parkesburg | Partly shining, 39
Sports PA
🏀 Sixes (5-14) | Charlotte 110-104 | Wednesday vs. Orlando
🏒 Penguins (11-12-4) | Florida 5-4 (overtime) | Friday vs. NY Rangers
🏒 Flyers (12/10/3) | Thu vs. Florida
🔉 What we hear. Libertine. Dan Miller will announce his candidacy for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas at a 10 a.m. news conference on the steps of the City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh.
🍺 Beware of elderly style. Pennsylvania-based Yuengling is the oldest brewery in America bringing his beer to Chicago.
📅 What’s going on. Here list of events taking place at the Pennsylvania Society 2024 this weekend in New York.
📱 Social media. PoliticsPA has a number of social media sites where you can get the latest political news from across the Commonwealth: Twitter | Blue | Facebook | LinkedIn
The most critical story
1. Trump still opposes purchases of American steel abroad
“The controversial $14.9 billion buyout of the iconic Pittsburgh-based company US Steel still has no impact. Donald Trump support.
On Tuesday, the president-elect reaffirmed his vow to block the deal with Japanese company Nippon Steel, maintaining the same promise made by the Biden administration earlier this year.
Senate President pro tempore Kim WardA Republican who says 4,000 workers in her district could lose their jobs if the company leaves western Pennsylvania said Trump’s words give her hope. (Central Square)
Elsewhere
Shapiro says Trump “is on a different page” than AP members on U.S. steel sales. “Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro responded Tuesday to President-elect Donald Trump’s social media comments opposing the proposed $14.9 billion sale of Pittsburgh-based US Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, reaffirming his focus on keeping jobs in 122-year-old company in the Keystone State.” (Penn Capital Star)
- Steel workers feel Trump plans to block the takeover. (Newsweek)
Elon Musk’s PAC says it’s vetting voters for cash handouts, but the PA AG’s office is reviewing complaints about unsolicited checks. “The complaints come as Elon Musk’s US PAC goes to great lengths to ‘actively ensure’ the validity of recipients of the petition cash prizes.” (Questioner from Philadelphia)
Country
2. Notes, notes and more notes Look for sponsors as preparations begin for the 2025-2026 legislative session
“Despite the fact that Pennsylvania’s 2025-2026 legislative session is not scheduled to formally begin until next month, the first two days of the last month of 2024 were characterized by high activity.
How big is the storm? How about 299 new co-sponsorship notes looking for names to attach?” (PolitykaPA)
Elsewhere
Henry confirmed as a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania. “U.S. Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey announce that the Senate has confirmed Catherine Henry as a federal judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.” (PoliticsPA)
Davis elected president of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association. “DLGA is the only organization focused exclusively on the annual election of Democratic lieutenants and candidates.” (PoliticsPA)
- Lt. Gov. Austin Davis will now lead the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association. (Questioner from Philadelphia)
PA processes permits and licenses faster, says Governor Shapiro at Hill District Barbershop. “Shapiro urged Pennsylvania authorities to shorten processing times for approximately 2,400 types of business licenses and permits.” (WESA)
Around the Republic of Poland
3. Allegheny County Council approves 2025 budget with 36% tax escalate after week-long battle
“The Allegheny County Council, after nearly two months of debate, narrowly passed a budget Tuesday night that increases county taxes by approximately 36% and results in no layoffs.
Council members narrowly missed the 10-vote threshold on a compromise budget to raise taxes by $1.7 million – the first tax increase the county has seen since 2011. $1.7 million equals $1.70 per $1,000 of assessed value. The vote for the budget was 10 to 5. (Pittsburgh Postal Newspaper)
- Allegheny County 1.7 Mill Property Tax Hike Passes by the Narrowest of Margins. (Public source)
Elsewhere
Delaware County Proposes 23% Tax Hike, One Council Member Calls It a Fiscal ‘Crisis’. “Delaware County’s executive on Tuesday presented a new 2025 budget proposal to the County Council that includes a 23 percent tax increase and will leave the county with a disturbingly small rainy day fund.”Wide + Freedom)
What are we listening to?. “NPR’s Michel Martin talks to Kelly Dittmar, research director at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, about the growing number of women in state legislatures.” (WQLN)
Do you know more social studies than an eighth grader? “We’ve written some of this before, but we found out that The Washington Post ran an article asking whether readers knew more social studies than an eighth-grader. So we had to follow suit.” (The Bradford era)
Flood exposes deep divisions between two AP bedroom communities. “After last year’s flooding, community divisions have complicated long-term solutions for the Antietam School District in Berks County.” (PA reflector)
Editorial
4. What do you mean
1 item
5. National Cookie Day
“For some of us, every day is a good day for a cookie. On Wednesday you have an excuse because it’s National Cookie Day.
National Cookie Day is celebrated on December 4 each year, but the National Cookie Day Calendar website does not assign this date any historical significance in the annals of cookies. The site notes that the word “cookie” comes from the Dutch word “koekie,” meaning “small cake.”
But which cookie should you choose on this special day? When it comes to making holiday cookies, in a December 2023 Monmouth University survey of 803 U.S. adults, frosted cookies emerged as the top choice (32%), followed by gingerbread (12%) and chocolate chips (11%). cookies that round out the top three.” (Erie Times-News)
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